It is a powerful, but small engine.
It’s virtually impossible to find a compact car engine with a displacement of more than 2.0 liters in Europe. Even four-cylinder engines are slowly dying. While we know that downsizing can be a contentious topic in the automotive sector, and we don’t intend to argue with either side, our view is that not all is bad. Consider the Volkswagen Golf, with its 1.5-liter gasoline engine.
Although the regular Golf is no longer available in the United States, it remains one the most sought-after new cars on the Old continent. The TopSpeedGermany channel, YouTube has a new video that takes us aboard the 2021 Golf 1.5 TSI to do a quick Autobahn speed check. We are pleasantly surprised by the results. Although it isn’t rocket science, it is quite fast for a 1.5-liter engine car.
The Golf 1.5 TSI is rated at 150 horsepower (110 kilowatts) with 184 lbft (220 Newton-meters). It has a six-speed manual gearbox that channels the power to the front wheels. The engine sounds are not very good, but it is unlikely that many buyers of non-performance compact cars will be interested in how their new hatchback sounds.
This engine should be able to sprint at 0-60 miles per hour (or 100 km) per hour in just 8.5 seconds. We don’t have the opportunity to witness a true standing-start acceleration test. However, the Golf joining the traffic on Autobahn is quite impressive. The hatch can reach speeds of 80 mph (130 km/h) within seconds of the engine revving to 6,500 rpm.
It is interesting to note that the driver kept the engine in fourth gear up to 124 mph (200 km/h). This Autobahn trip saw the fastest speed recorded at 143 mph (230 km/h) in fifth gear. While that is not an impressive result considering our time, it is a decent result for a regular hatch with 1.5 engines.